Giorgia Acerbi

Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Piaggio Aerospace (Italy)

Papers

Total Citations

176

H-Index

About

Giorgia Acerbi is a leading researcher at the intersection of Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), social robotics, and the legal and ethical frameworks surrounding autonomous systems. Her work addresses two critical dimensions of robotics: how robots can behave more naturally with humans, and how society can responsibly integrate them. Her highly cited 2019 survey on behavioral models for social robots (100+ citations) provides a comprehensive taxonomy of computational frameworks that enable robots to exhibit socially intelligent behaviors, from gesture recognition to adaptive dialogue, laying essential groundwork for designing machines that people can trust and collaborate with. In a pioneering contribution to robot law and policy, her 2016 article "On Robots and Insurance" (41 citations) tackles the pressing question of liability and risk allocation, exploring who should bear responsibility when autonomous systems cause harm. This work bridges a crucial gap between technical development and real-world deployment, influencing discussions on robot accountability. Acerbi’s dual focus—advancing the behavioral science of social robots while addressing the legal and insurance challenges they create—makes her a uniquely interdisciplinary voice, shaping both how robots interact with us and how we govern their place in society.